16 Creative Ways to Hide Easter Eggs

Crack of dawn on Sunday not your ideal thinking time? Just follow our creative egg-hiding ideas and pretend Peter Cottontail did the work

I'm a freelance writer and design enthusiast who believes the best design is collected, not decorated, and that homes should always be as comfortable and functional as they are chic. In addition to writing for Houzz, I work as the Head Copywriter for Layla Grayce and Zinc Door.

I'm a freelance writer and design enthusiast who believes the best design... More

The countdown is on to Easter, and it’s time to lay down a strategy for the annual egg hunt. Instead of hitting up the usual hiding places — behind the throw pillows, under the couch — have a little fun this year by stashing the eggs in unexpected places. Your kids will have a ball trying to track them all down, and you’ll feel pretty proud that you’ve managed to outsmart your increasingly clever children for once. Just remember to write down where all the eggs are hidden: There’s a reason rotten eggs get a bad rap!

Look around your space for funky accessories or objects you can play with. These flowerlike throw pillows have loads of nooks and crannies for egg hiding.

What types of sculptures or artistic pieces do you have around the home that could be a sneaky egg hider? This piece (which is constructed from toilet paper rolls!) would be a great spot to hold a small chocolate egg.

Work eggs into vignettes or groups of framed photographs. When there are already several visually enticing things going on, it’s easy to overlook the addition of an Easter egg. This, of course, makes it all the more fun when it’s finally discovered.

Let’s face it, kids are never averse to climbing all over the furniture. Have a little fun by hiding Easter eggs in places slightly out of reach, like a vase on a shelf, so they have to put in a little physical effort.

Behold: the many hiding places of the mudroom. Stick your Easter eggs in boots, mittens or the pockets of coats. This is definitely not a place where you want to forget about the hidden egg: Jackets with long-forgotten rotten eggs in the pockets don’t bode well for anyone.

Get crafty by painting your eggs the same color as fruit you have displayed around the home, and then work them into the grouping. Just be sure you don’t absentmindedly reach for an apple during the great hunt and find yourself biting into a hard-boiled egg instead.

Why would you ever hide the eggs where your child last saw them? Exactly! This is what makes the fridge so fun for hiding Easter eggs. Don’t leave them in the carton, though: Disperse them throughout, maybe in the vegetable drawer or next to the ketchup. Your child will surely get a kick out of this discovery.

Gosh Shawn, I know you writers do a great job and have limited resources to work with but I really worry about the safety of some of your suggestions. There are very few ideas here that would be safe for young children - even 9 and 10 year olds can do silly things in the excitement of the moment. Having children climb for things when in most homes climbing is forbidden, no matter how much they might like it, is not good, I can't help but wonder how many coffee mugs would make it back on the hook, and looking in something on a stove that is normally hot and generally off limits really scares me. Even some of the seemingly 'safe' places would send an excited child off to similar places that maybe aren't quite as safe or that house some valuable item that could be broken. In fact I can see the house becoming totally trashed.

I'm sorry, I hate to take you guys to task, but this one just didn't work for me.

Definitely not a practical article for a mother of seven children. I wish I had time to hand paint an egg to look like a piece of fruit, or hide an egg in the cereal box...sorry, cute for you perfect people out ther, just not practical for people like me. I was up until 2am trying to put together Easter baskets for all of their unique personalities and I haven't even boiled eggs yet. (Sigh)

nice article!Seriously... It is about having fun!!! I did all the things & more & am still in 1 piece. It is an article not a manual. It is each parents responsibility to use their cognitive skills to adapt ideas to their child's age & skill set. I appreciate the thoughts but am concerned that people feel everything needs a disclaimer. How about just using common sense for your situation. As I read the article & it kept noting real eggs ( I couldn't imagine using those for various reasons ...most listed in article) I did not feel the need to correct the article... I just know what I will do- use plastic & paper eggs. Happy Easter! Spring is here! :)

We hide plastic Easter eggs and have only used plastic for many years. I try to be sneaky and hide them in shoes-boots-pockets of jackets, in with my crafting supplies and on bookshelves. The hardest part is trying to remember where the heck they are all hidden- that's why no real eggs are used for this. It's fun for the kiddo's and I have fun watching them hunt for the elusive eggs!

Like all ideabooks, this one is meant to give you an idea or two you hadn't thought of before. Obviously not every idea on Houzz will work for every person. If you are uptight about kids moving around in your house, maybe you should hide the eggs outside.

We were able to find all the eggs because I used them in a scavenger style hunt to find their baskets. I'd put the baskets in place, then work backwards with plastic eggs that had clues in them. The first egg I'd place would be the one that led them to the basket, then the next egg would have a clue in it that led to the first egg I placed, and so on. Then the "starter" egg was under the pillow of the oldest child that could read, and he'd start the hunt with his sister...........after we were awake of course! That way, even if we used an obscure hiding spot, there weren't real eggs that could get smelly if not found, and they'd find all the plastic eggs because of the clues.

I miss the old days when they were little. This was SUCH a fun morning for us. No grandkids yet either.

I hid the eggs in all sorts of places - One was removing a lightbulb and replacing it with an egg. I didn't worry about turning the lamps on - they were unplugged. Hid eggs on the top edge of picture frames and in the wood basket near the fireplace. i also had eggs in the creamer of my displayed china. I had one child who found most of the eggs - 30 of 3 dozen in a very short time - made it so hard for the others and me because I had to find out where she found them( the lost egg problem) She now conducts an egg hunt for her teen boys and they look forward to the challenge.

Funny, I live in Australia and as far as I know we aussies usually only use chocolate Easter eggs for hunting. I was kind of shocked to realize some people use real eggs, I wouldn't want to hide a real egg and find it a month later...

It's traditional to hide eggs at Easter and I think most parents are close by when little ones are looking, even giving hints sometimes. I can see where some of the suggested places would be off limits, esp., the teapot. As poster K said it best, " use common sense."
Happy Easter!

The first Easter after I was remarried, I had my two children and my husband's two, all of them young(er) teens at the time. Wanting to do something to perhaps spark a new and fun blended-family memory, I filled many plastic eggs with candy and a couple with small denomination bills (remember I'm talking young teens here!) Hid them well all over the front and backyard. Waited until dark. Handed them each a bag and a flashlight. Nighttime Easter Egg Hunt. They had a blast!

I agree that the entire house will be in a mess but the whole idea of finding easter eggs is for having fun. And you cannot expect kids to have fun without creating a mess. Shawn, few of the ideas mentioned were really great and original too. Thanks for the share.